Cameron claims role of NHS protector

David Cameron works on his conference speech in his hotel room in Bournemouth. Photograph: Andrew Parsons/PA

David Cameron today seeks to cast himself and his modernised Tory party as the true protectors of the NHS, promising never to cut its funding or impose any more of Labour's "pointless and disruptive reorganisations".

Tory strategists believe the ill-feeling towards Labour-imposed NHS deficits and upheavals is now so enormous, and the moderation of Mr Cameron so clear, that the party can shed its image as an enemy of the NHS, a handicap affecting every Tory election campaign since the birth of the health service. Closing his party's conference, he will liken his commitment to the NHS to Tony Blair's promise to make education his single greatest priority.

He will say: "Tony Blair explained his priorities in three words: education, education, education. I can do it in three letters: NHS. We will serve and support the National Health Service. We will never jeopardise the NHS by cutting its funding."

Mr Cameron has also decided to put his commitment to the NHS into a personal context, emphasising that he has been a consistent user of the health service for his son Ivan, who has cerebral palsy.

He will say: "The NHS is vitally important to every family in this country. It certainly is to mine. I believe the creation of the NHS is one of the greatest achievements of the 20th century. I always believed this. When your family relies on the NHS all the time - day after day, night after night - you know how precious it is.

"So for me it's not just a question of saying the NHS is safe in my hands. My family is so often in the hands of the NHS, so I want them to be safe there."

He is also to promise the one million NHS staff that there will be no more "pointless and disruptive reorganisations", highlighting the way Labour abolished the internal market and then in effect reintroduced it.

He will concede change is necessary but insist it "must come from the bottom up; driven by the wishes and needs of NHS professionals". The Conservatives intend to follow up the Cameron speech by presenting the party in a series of constituency-based campaigns as the defender of the NHS against the cuts being imposed by Gordon Brown.

The Tories claim the NHS is about to lose 20,000 jobs and an unquantifiable number of beds due to falling £1.3bn into the red.

The chancellor appears to be aware of the animosity within the NHS over what is seen as political interference. At the Labour conference last week he proposed that an independent board should take charge of the day-to-day management of the health service. The health minister Andy Burnham has proposed an NHS constitution, setting out the limits of the Labour reform programme.

It was not clear last night whether Mr Cameron's commitment to end reorganisations means his party is dropping its previous pledge to make every NHS trust an independent foundation hospital. His officials also insisted his remarks did not imply he was opposing the use of private and voluntary contractors, so long as the service remained free at the point of use.

It does mean the Tories will at least reduce the use of targets and give NHS managers greater freedom. The commitment to avoid cuts in the NHS, Conservative officials said, meant "the Tories will share the proceeds of growth between the lower taxes this country needs and the increases in spending on public services every government should provide".

In practice, the rate of growth in spending in the NHS is bound to slow after the recent record increases.

Mr Cameron will also return to the theme of his first speech to the conference by insisting his refusal to offer detailed policy at this stage in the electoral cycle did not reveal a superficiality or lack of leadership. He will say: "Substance is not about a 10-point plan, it is about deeper things than that. It is about knowing what you believe and sticking to your guns. It is about taking time to think things through and not trotting out the easy answers people want to hear."